Asig

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________________

Course: PCI4
Time to Complete: 1 hour approximately
Title: Assignment 1 (Focus on Listening Comprehension)
Objectives: To give participants suggestion as to how to improve their listening comprehension skills
Skills: Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension, Writing
Specific Grammar and Vocabulary:Simple present, simple future
Instructions and Material:
Read this article.
How to Improve Your Listening Comprehension
Kenneth Beare on http://www.about.com/ wrote: Does this situation seem familiar to you? Your English is progressing well, the grammar is now familiar, the reading comprehension is no problem, you are communicating quite fluently, but listening is STILL a problem! You are notalone. Listening comprehension is probably the most difficult task for almost all learners of English as a foreign language. So, now you know you are not alone. Let's look at what you can do to improve your listening comprehension.
The most important thing is to listen as often as possible. It is useful to create a schedule for yourself and stick to it. Think of a way to squeeze a few minutes oflistening into your busy schedule. For example, before sleeping or just after lunch or between classes. I listen to

The next step is to find listening resources. This is where the Internet really comes in handy as a tool for English students. Here are some suggestions.

Words in the News (BBC) --This is a British accent. It is audio but you may also read the article as you listen to the articleto improve your pronunciation and sentence stress patterns. Most are less than 5 minutes! Here is one to try: (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2011/09/110930_witn_donation.shtml)

6 Minute English (BBC)-- This is a British accent generally. It is audio but it presents to you targe vocabulary and definitions in writing plus it presents ONE question. Sowhen you are listening to the audio you can listen for the answer. Most of these audio recordings are less than 5 minutes and often involve two or more people speaking. Here is one to try!(http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2011/09/110930_witn_donation.shtml)

There are many audio recordings available at http://http://www.bbc.co.uk/. Have fun exploring!All Things Considered (NPR) – The journalists and program presenters generally have American accents. You may listen to the entire news show or simply listen to one article, which is what I recommend. You may not have time to dedicate an hour of attentive listening every day! Here is one to try! (http://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/) They always have the most recent one on the AllThings Considered homepage.

There are many audio recordings available at http://http://www.npr.org/. Have fun exploring! (Note at the bottom of that page a list of audio article categories).

Two other radio sources to explore are WBAI and KPFA two radio stations based in the USA. WBAI is in New York, NY. Archived radio show can be found here. http://archive.wbai.org/. KPFA is in Berkeley, CA.Once you have begun to listen on a regular basis, you might still be frustrated by limited understanding. Relax. Keep cool when you do not understand. Accept the fact that you are not going to understand everything. Focus initially on listening for the general idea, the gist of what you are listening to. Don't concentrate on detail until you have understood the main ideas. And do not translatewhile listening! Translating takes too long. While you are translating you will miss what's next. Besides that translating does not give your brain the opportunity to learn how to unederstand English in English.

Answer this question.
Which tip is not suggested in the previous article?
Listen often
Find and start using a variety of audio sources
Don't translate into your native language...